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I hope you are having a great year! I have been offline for the past year, just trying to spend more of me free time drawing and painting. I miss writing here, but The online world overwhelms me a bit, and sometimes I need to log off and turn inward… not great for promoting art, but healthy nonetheless.

One online place I can’t seem to break free from is Instagram. The photos, art, beautiful videos, so little drama (at least where I go)… since I rarely have the opportunity to travel and see art, Instagram images help fill that void.

I have hesitantly shared my art over the past few years, here on WordPress and on Instagram, trying not to concern myself too much with harsh judgement. I am now feeling ready to send more of my art and handmade creations, out into the world.

I hope you will join me on Instagram to enjoy a little whimsy and maybe even bring home some original art! I promise Mermaids, Fairies, whimsical beings, and lots of Daisies!

Find me on Instagram – @skyblue_artstudio if interested in artworks for purchase directly through Instagram and PayPal.

You may also follow my more personal account which also includes artsy moments, works in process, etc. – @skybluewithdaisies

Do you ever thumb through an old sketchbook, giggle a little, and wonder…what was I thinking when i drew this or that? or I had fun making this. or i’ve really improved since then, or maybe i should burn this. 🙂

I remember when i found this little critter and thought, I should totally burn this… But first I’ll color it. I photographed it and colored it on with an i-phone app. Sometimes i do this. It relaxes me. 🙂

Now i love this little purple guy! What’s in your old sketchbooks or journals? Grab a cup of tea and find something that makes you smile. Pick up some colored pencils or your favorite photo editing app (I like PicsArt) and give it new life with color or shading. Did it make you smile? Maybe it will make us smile. Even if you do decide to burn it later. 🙂

Feel free to post about it on your blog, and add a link in the comments if you’d like to share! I’d give away the original, but i seriously think i burned it. 🙂

xo skyblue

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Connecticut Folk Artist Skyblue is Erica Lubee (formerly Erica Moreland). She writes this blog from her studio in CT to share her love of art, creativity, photography, nature and all creatures big and small, real and imagined. Her passion is for mixed media, whimsical folkart, illustration and the feminine portrait. Visit Skyblue’s gallery for more of her paintings and artworks. Some prints available at Redbubble. Original drawings, paintings, and more will become available soon! Follow or subscribe here or on Facebook for updates and more artsy fun. 🙂

Hi! Didn’t get far this weekend, and it doesn’t show much in black and white… But I’m trying to do a little every chance I can. Posting holds me accountable. I will likely reveal the colors and final result by this weekend, hang around and follow if you’d like to see her🙂

This is a sketch I did a while ago, when i decided i wanted to do a series of “girly” superheros. I often use the word “girly” to describe my art, design and fashion aesthetic. The word “girly” can mean so many things… but it is often perceived as describing someone who is the opposite of strong, courageous, tough… and i think nothing could be farther from the truth. It can also have negative connotations when using the word to unaffectionately describe a male who behaves or dresses more “female”. This is unfortunate. Whether you are male, female, or anywhere in between – “girly” can be used against you as one of those shaming words. Bummer.

Someone might say to me, “…Well Girly is a horrible word to use, because that is non-inclusive and doesn’t consider males who love pink, or wear glitter, or who paint daisies on everything.” I’ve thought about this. a lot. …because I actually think it is tragic that we as a human race have developed such hard and harsh gender rules for people. It’s shameful we have created a world where we inflict shame on others that don’t fit in those “rules”… where to be on the outside who you are inside is taboo, and simply dangerous.

That being said, I believe the word “girly” will and should live on. For centuries there have been certain aesthetic themes that have been more commonly demonstrated by males or females. This is across continents and cultures, and while it may be considered a “man-made” or regrettable societal outcome – i believe there must be some biological component as well. I have always felt drawn to very feminine, colorful, flowery, flowing, glittery, pink&purple-y things. I have no idea if it’s because of society, or because i have a vagina. Hopefully someday it will be the right of everybody to enjoy those things if they want to… Vagina, or no vagina. I dream of a world in which all genders can proudly flaunt their “girly” achievements, creations, and outfits. Girly may be your greatest superpower!

Back to my “girly” superhero sketches. The “girly” imagery is fun and unexpected when juxtaposed with traditional superhero outfits. My drawings aren’t typically meant to be anything political or social-awareness-y… they are just for fun and love. I love to make “girly” girls, i love superheros, and i was having fun with that. Hopefully I’ll share more superheros soon, but I’m currently on a mermaid kick. 🙂

p.s. You are my superhero. You who have felt different, awkward, uncomfortable in our skin… and who fell in love with every inch of yourself as you are… while always loving others (including animals) even more. You, are just plain super.

see more superheros here! I haven’t written much lately. I’m trying to post week, maybe every day, but unfortunately I’m always slipping. Thank you for the challenge and inspiration WordPress 🙂

xo skyblue

p.s. If you are a cosplayer and want to make yourself into one of my superheros… feel free… first i’d fa-rEEEEK OUT! and then i’d send you a Fa-rEEEEE print! 🙂

Mermaids have been on my mind a lot more than usual this year. I’ve always had a love affair with their images and mythologies, but not enough to study or create them in numbers. Suddenly I can’t stop thinking about them. And this summer I swam in the ocean for the first time in years… Twice!

Something Merm-ish is certainly going on.

Another summer season has come and almost gone, and yet again i failed to make my long-intended journey to Coney Island for the Mermaid Parade. But lately I feel mermaids all around me. Here’s one I’ve been working on… She had me completely stuck where the first video begins. When you’re stuck like that, eventually you either have to paint over everything in lime green (not that i have ever done that), or just commit to whatever is going to happen and start dipping your brush in some paint. I started this mermaid a few weeks ago… the second in a set of two mermaid canvases, and i just could not get past her mushy stage. Just when I was about to start rummaging for my juiciest tube of key lime, i decided she deserved more effort from me. So for fun I started recording Instagram videos… and then I just did stuff. with paint.

I joke with my husband that whenever I’m stuck with a painting and feel like giving up, I just start adding daisieshere and there until I can move on. This is half true, and half because I love 💛 daisies. A lot. I actually think they should be on everything. Seriously.

I hope you’ll enjoy some time-lapse speed painting! (Real time would be intensely painful to watch). She got some daisies of course, and a bit more clothing than originally planned. Follow along to see if she makes it all the way to her varnishing ceremony (and see her in color!), or if she is fated to meet a lime green demise.

I grew up before there was such a thing as a selfie. But today, it’s a part of every day of our life. Whether it is because we need validation in the form of likes and shares, or we simply want to capture a memory for friends or families, ourselves… it is a lovely medium that draws me in for whatever reason. They come to us in the form of friends, family, strangers, celebrities… they are candid or staged, sometimes both. I am not an art scholar. But I believe they are a form of portraiture… however flat, sexy, creative, narcissistic, innocent,, annoying, ugly, pretty… I will be hated and booed for my opinion but i stand by it… in my eyes, these selfies are art.

So many questions form in my head when i see a selfie. I have questions on everything from how they got those facial features to what they had for breakfast. Selfies inspire a lot of my art. Some of my faces are free form from a vision, others are loosely inspired by an photo i see. Then as the piece comes to life… i have even more questions. How is that not art?